When does the madness end when it comes to the behavior and actions of TSA agents? John Gross was leaving Florida to return to Indianapolis, ID with his grandfathers ashes. He had the ashes in a tightly sealed jar marked “Human Remains.” Even though on the TSA’s own website that states, it states human remains are to be opened under, “no circumstances,” that did not stop the agent from doing exactly just that. TSA rules say a crematory container in carry-on baggage must pass through the X-ray machine at the security checkpoint. But no, the TSA agent had to open the container and about 1/3 of the contents spilled out on to the ground. GOOD GRIEF.

A man’s attempt to bring the ashes of his grandfather home to Indianapolis ended with an angry scene in a Florida airport, with the ashes spilled on the terminal floor.

John Gross, a resident of Indianapolis’ south side, was leaving Florida with the remains of his grandfather — Mario Mark Marcaletti, a Sicilian immigrant who worked for the Penn Central Railroad in central Indiana — in a tightly sealed jar marked “Human Remains.” [...]

Gross says about a quarter to a third of the contents spilled on the floor, leaving him frantically trying to gather up as much as he could while anxious passengers waited behind him.

“She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.”

How is it that the TSA has agents who do not even seem to be aware of the TSA policies and procedures? It appears that TSA agents don’t even understand the basic knowledge of how to do their jobs and they might want to take a course on “humanity”as well. At what point do TSA apologies mean pretty much nothing?

The same thing happened to me in 2002 at the DFW airport only the TSA didn’t spill my father all over the floor but I was appalled and shocked by their actions. They insisted that they had to open his brass container to verify that it contained ashes (even though we had paperwork with us certifying from the funeral home what was in it and it was also labeled as human remains) and then when they got it open made remarks that it could be cocaine or something else but eventually sealed it back up and we went on our way. We had gone to the airport in Austin, Tx to Dallas and on to Indiana but neither the Austin or Indiana airport opened or had a problem with it.